ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on contemporary turuq in West Africa. It argues that these networks, which contributed a great deal to the spread of Islam in black Africa, make tension less likely, while their absence actually makes it more likely. The chapter discusses the context in which the turuq emerged as sociopolitical communities in West Africa. It focuses on the Niassene Tijaniyya tariqa. The chapter describes the modus operandi of this tariqa in West Africa in general, and in Senegambia in particular. It analyzes the relationship of the Niassene Tijaniyya tariqa to the Arab states, its proselytizing in the United States, and the consequent creation of a US Senegal network. The chapter addresses the question of the effect of the operation of these Sufi networks on the issue of security broadly understood. But the West African Sufi communities, thanks to the backing of the French, came to control communities that had been led by Africans kings before colonial interference.
